1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control device having a steering device for steering the bendable distal end of an endoscope.
2. Description of the Related Art
Endoscopes provided with a pair of angle knobs for steering the distal end of the insertion portion of the endoscope, and a corresponding pair of lock knobs which respectively lock the pair of angle knobs to thereby lock the distal end of the insertion portion are known in the art. Among such endoscopes, endoscopes whose angle knobs and/or lock knobs are formed as hollow knobs are also known in the art.
Medical endoscopes need to be disinfected and sterilized each time before use. In the case of sterilizing a medical endoscope with gas, the endoscope is sterilized through the use of difference in pressure between the internal and external pressures of the endoscope. Therefore, the stress due to pressure fluctuation tends to be applied to elements of the hollow angle knobs and/or lock knobs since the volume of the inner space of each angle or lock knob is generally small. In medical endoscopes which are intended to be sterilized with gas, in order to make the endoscopes compliant with such stress, the wall thickness of each hollow knob is made heavy while the adhesive coated surface of the same is made large, if any hollow knob has such a surface, to retain a sufficient strength of each hollow knob. However, from a view point of minimization, reduction in weight, and productivity of the endoscope, both the wall thickness and the adhesive coated surface are preferably small.
In conventional endoscopes, in the case where a hollow angle knob is formed as a hollow member which includes upper and lower walls which are separate from each other in the direction of the axis of the central rotational shaft, and an outer peripheral wall which connects the upper and lower walls in assembled condition, such a hollow angle knob generally has a two-piece construction. Namely, such a hollow angle knob includes a first half piece including the upper wall and an upper half of the outer peripheral wall and a second half piece including the lower wall and a lower half of the outer peripheral wall, wherein the first half piece and the second half piece are coupled to each other to form the hollow angle knob. According to this conventional structure, since the hollow angle knob is constructed from two or more external elements, it is troublesome and time-consuming to make the two or more external elements independent of each other, while the two or more external elements have to be assembled while ensuring the watertight construction of the hollow angle knob. As a result, the hollow angle knob cannot be made easily at a low cost of production. Furthermore, in the above described case where the hollow angle knob is constructed from the first half piece and the second half piece, a mold seam is inevitably formed on the outer peripheral wall of the hollow angle knob. Such a mold seam makes it difficult and time-consuming to wash and clean the angle knob after the endoscope is used.
A conventional medical endoscope is generally provided with a operational body having a grip portion, and an insertion portion which extends from the operational body. In the case where the insertion portion is a flexible insertion tube, the distal end of the insertion portion serves as a steerable bendable portion which can be steered to bend right, left, upward and downward by controlling a steering device (an L-R angle knob and a U-D angle knob) provided on the operational body. The operator manually controls the angle knobs while holding the grip portion of the operational body during the use of the endoscope. The grip portion and each angle knob are generally made of a resin. Therefore, the external surfaces of the angle knobs and the grip portion are slippery, which may cause a medical accident. To prevent this problem from occurring, an endoscope whose grip portion has an anti-slip knurled surface is known in the art. However, such a knurled surface is not good enough to prevent such a problem from occurring; furthermore, such a knurled surface makes it difficult to wash and clean the endoscope.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a control device of an endoscope which is lightweight with an outstanding manufacturability, and which cannot be easily damaged even if a large difference in pressure occurs between the outside and the inside of the endoscope.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a control device of an endoscope which can be produced at a low cost of production and which contributes to the maintainability of the endoscope, e.g., ease of cleaning the endoscope.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a control device of an endoscope whose operational body can be securely held, gripped and controlled with little possibility of the operational body slipping off the hand of the operator, or the fingers of the operator slipping off a rotational control knob during the use of the endoscope.
Other objects of the invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art in the following disclosure and the appended claims.
To achieve the object mentioned above, according to an aspect of the present invention, an endoscope is provided, including a hollow operational body, a hollow shaft provided on the hollow operational body, at least one hollow rotational control knob which is rotatably supported on the hollow shaft, and an air passage via which an inner space of the hollow operational body and an inner space of the at hollow rotational control knob have a communicative connection with each other, wherein the hollow shaft includes a portion of the passage.
In an embodiment, the hollow rotational control knob is positioned about an axis of the hollow shaft at an intermediate position between opposite ends of the axis. The air passage includes at least one radial path formed on the hollow shaft to extend in a radial direction of the hollow shaft to the inner space of the hollow rotational control knob; and at least one axial path formed in the hollow shaft so as to have a communicative connection with the radial path, and to extend in a direction of the axis of the hollow shaft to the inner space of the hollow operational body.
Preferably, the endoscope further includes at least one cylindrical member which is fitted on the hollow shaft, wherein the hollow rotational control knob is positioned about an axis of the hollow shaft at an intermediate position between opposite ends of the axis. The air passage includes at least one axial path formed in the hollow shaft to extend in a direction of the axis of the hollow shaft to the inner space of the hollow operational body; at least one first radial path formed on the hollow shaft to extend in a radial direction of the hollow shaft from the axial path to an outer peripheral surface of the hollow shaft; at least one second radial path formed on the cylinder to extend in the direction of the axis of the hollow shaft so as to provide a communicative connection with the axial path and the inner space of the hollow rotational control via the second radial path regardless of a relative rotational position between the cylindrical member and the hollow shaft.
In an embodiment, the hollow rotational control knob is fixed to the cylindrical member so that the cylindrical member rotates about the hollow shaft together with the hollow rotational control knob when the hollow rotational control knob is turned.
In an embodiment, the at least one hollow rotational control knob includes two hollow rotational control knobs which are positioned about the axis of the hollow shaft at different position between opposite ends of the axis, and the inner space of each of the two hollow rotational control knobs have a communicative connection with the inner space of the hollow operational body via the air passage.
In an embodiment, the endoscope further includes another hollow rotational control knob which is positioned at one end of the hollow shaft to be rotatable about the axis of the hollow shaft. An inner space of this hollow rotational control knob and the inner space of the hollow operational body have a communicative connection with each other via the axial path.
In an embodiment, the endoscope further includes an insertion portion connected to the hollow operational body, wherein the hollow rotational control knob functions as a manually rotatable control member to bend a steerable distal end of the insertion portion so as to direct a tip of the distal end toward a target.
In an embodiment, the endoscope further includes an insertion portion connected to the hollow operational body; and another hollow rotational control knob which is positioned at one end of the hollow shaft to be rotatable about the axis of the hollow shaft. The hollow rotational control knob functions as a manually rotatable control member to bend a steerable distal end of the insertion portion so as to direct a tip of the distal end toward a target; and this hollow rotational control knob functions as a manually rotatable lock member to lock the rotational steering knob.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an endoscope is provided, including a hollow operational body, at least one hollow rotational control knob provided on the hollow operational body, and a communicative connection device which provides a communicative connection with an inner space of the hollow operational body and an inner space of the hollow rotational control knob. The communicative connection device includes a stationary hollow shaft about which the at least one hollow rotational control knob is turned.
Preferably, the at least one hollow rotational control knob includes a first angle knob for bending a distal end of an insertion portion of the endoscope in a first direction, a second angle knob for bending the distal end in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and a lock knob, positioned at one end of the hollow shaft, for locking the first knob.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an endoscope is provided, including an insertion portion provided at a distal end thereof with a steerable bendable portion; and at least one rotational steering knob which is controlled manually to bend the steerable bendable portion so as to direct a tip of the steerable bendable portion toward a target. The rotational steering knob is made of a resin material and includes a pair of walls which are separate from each other in a direction of a rotational axis of the rotational steering knob, an aperture being formed on each of the pair of walls, and an outer peripheral wall which extends to connect the pair of walls so as to form the rotational steering knob as a hollow knob.
In an embodiment, the rotational steering knob is formed by injection molding; and one of the two apertures which are respectively formed on the pair of walls is formed so that at least one mold piece of a mold for injection molding the rotational steering knob can be removed through the one of the two apertures.
Preferably, the outer peripheral wall includes a plurality of hollow projecting portions which extend radially outwards perpendicularly to the rotational axis.
Preferably, the mold includes a first mold piece group for forming an outer surface of the rotational steering knob; a second mold piece group, positioned in an inner space of the rotational steering knob, for forming inner surfaces of the plurality of hollow projecting portions; and a third mold piece group, positioned in the inner space, for positioning the second mold piece group at a predetermined position in the inner space. The third mold piece group is taken out of the inner space via the one of the two apertures, subsequently the second mold piece group is moved to a position in the inner space where the second mold piece group can be taken out of the inner space via the one of the two apertures, and subsequently the second mold piece group is taken out of the inner space via the one of the two apertures.
Preferably, the endoscope further includes at least one locking device which can be manually operated from an outside of the endoscope to lock the at least one rotational steering knob; wherein at least one element of the locking device is positioned in the inner space of the at least one rotational steering knob. The at least one element of the locking device can be dismounted from the inner space via the one of the two apertures.
Preferably, at least one annular sealing member is provided for sealing a gap between the one of the two apertures and the at least one element of the locking device.
In an embodiment, the endoscope further includes a rotational center-shaft about which the at least one rotational steering knob is turned, and at least one control shaft including a cylindrical portion rotatably fitted on the rotational center-shaft and a plate portion extending perpendicular to an axis of the rotational center-shaft;
wherein the plate portion is fixed to an inner surface of one of the pair of walls, the inner surface being positioned in an inner space of the at least one rotational steering knob.
Preferably, the inner surface of the one of the two separate walls, to which the plate portion is fixed, includes a plurality of projections, wherein a corresponding plurality of holes are formed on the plate portion. The plurality of projections are firstly fitted in the corresponding plurality of holes, respectively, and subsequently a tip of each of the plurality of projections is melted by heat to fix the plate portion to the one of the two separate walls.
Preferably, the at least one control shaft is made of metal.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an endoscope is provided, including an insertion portion provided at a distal end thereof with a steerable bendable portion, and at least one rotational steering knob which is turned manually about a rotational center-shaft to bend the steerable bendable portion so as to direct a tip thereof toward a target. The at least one rotational steering knob is made of a resin material and includes a pair of walls which are separate from each other in a direction of a rotational axis of the at least one rotational steering knob, an aperture being formed on each of the pair of walls, and an outer peripheral wall which extends to connect the pair of walls so as to form the at least one rotational steering knob as a hollow knob. The endoscope further includes at least one control shaft including a cylindrical portion fitted rotatably on the rotational shaft and a plate portion. The plate portion is fixed to an inner surface of one of the pair of walls, the inner surface being positioned in an inner space of the rotational steering knob.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an endoscope includes an operational body having an insertion portion extending therefrom, and at least one non-slip rubber member fixed to an external surface of the operational body.
Preferably, the non-slip rubber member is a rubber strip.
In an embodiment, the operational body includes a grip portion, the non-slip rubber member being fixed to an external surface of the grip portion.
Preferably, the insertion portion includes a steerable bendable portion. The operational body includes at least one rotational steering knob which is turned manually to bend the steerable bendable portion so as to direct a tip thereof toward a target, the non-slip rubber member being fixed to an external surface of the rotational steering knob.
In an embodiment, the non-slip rubber member is made of a fluorine-contained rubber. Alternatively, the non-slip rubber member is made of silicone rubber.
In an embodiment, the non-slip rubber member is made of a rubber which has an outstanding performance in chemical resistance.
Preferably, the operational body includes a groove formed on an external surface of the operational body, the non-slip rubber member being fitted in the groove. According to another aspect of the present invention, an endoscope is provided, including an operational body having at least one rotational control knob; and at least one non-slip rubber member fixed to an external surface of the operational body.
The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in the following three Japanese Patent Applications No. 2000-117681 (filed on Apr. 19, 2000), No. 2000-187801 (filed on Jun. 22, 2000) and No. 2000-256075 (filed on Aug. 25, 2000) which are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.